The creature was more like a lizard than a dragon.
Its entire body was covered in shiny black scales, and the part assumed to be its head had no eyes, nose, ears, or mouth.
The long and blunt head appeared almost mechanical, like some kind of inorganic machine.
Without wings, the creature had a long, sleek body reminiscent of a snake, with low, sturdy legs attached.
Muscular legs adorned with unusually long black claws numbered six.
And its long, massive, and thick tail split into six at the end.
Toothless Dragon.
Wingless Dragon.
Eyeless Dragon.
A dragon without molars, wings, or eyes. The rampaging destroyer. The Black Dragon's claw, Parekian.
It was our first Dragon Raid opponent and the first proper battle situation encountered among the Black Dragon Legion.
Creak, clank...
Sensing our presence, the creature slowly lifted itself.
It sounded not like a living being but more like a clump of armor moving.
And then,
Whirrrr!
The center of its chest glowed red, and the red energy echoed and spread throughout its body.
It looked as if an engine was starting. It really didn't feel like a dragon but some kind of alien mechanical life form...
With its stance lowered, six tails wriggled individually, preparing for battle.
Hiss...
A sticky, tropical night air-like malice peculiar to the Black Dragon spread around its body. It was clearly intent on killing us.
Had it been another dragon, we might have exchanged insults or pleasantries face to face, but with this one, such an exchange was impossible.
Because this bastard had no mouth.
There was simply no option for dialogue.
'And the fact that it has no mouth means.'
In other words, it lacks the breath ability.
Among the Black Dragon Legion, this one, in particular, was specialized in physical combat, close-quarters brawling. That's Parekian for you.
"Ready..."
Even without my command, my heroes had already formed up as trained.
I slowly raised one hand.
"The battle begins now. Remember the tactics..."
Thump!
Before I could finish, Parekian leaped up.
With terrifying momentum, Parekian kicked off the ground and floated in the air for a moment. Despite having no wings, it soared up as lightly as a feather.
I shouted.
"Jump!"
The next moment, Parekian spun like a top, hurtling towards us.
Thwack!
The creature's elongated body whipped the ground like a whip.
Its first attack pattern was always this spinning body slam. Though there must be a cooler name for it, it was essentially a spinning body slam!
And this was a pattern we had tirelessly trained to counter.
The floor sweep. Basically, an area-of-effect (AoE) attack.
By the time Parekian charged at us, we were already.
Zap!
Twenty-five of our heroes, plus ten reserves and Nameless, a total of 36, simultaneously jumped up, evading the creature's violent AoE in one fell swoop.
"From the training camp to the martial arts tournament, all those times..."
Hovering in the air, I turned around and shouted with a grin.
"Had meaning!"
Skipping rope wasn't just a one or two-day affair, yeah!
Of course, Parekian's body slam was incomparable in volume and speed to skipping rope, but we had trained with this in mind, so we could dodge without issue.
Parekian, having flown past us, slammed into the wall behind us.
Boom!
The entrance to the police station was instantly devastated.
Parekian's bulldozing attack turned the area into a mess, but none of our heroes were hit.
'The start is good!'
As all of us landed, Parekian too corrected its posture amidst the rising dust cloud.
Instead of immediately attacking us, it seemed to gauge our strength for a moment, its six tails moving independently like tentacles towards us.
The next moment,
Zap!
Parekian smoothly jumped up and began to climb the wall.
The garden at the entrance to the police station was landscaped in a large, circular manner. Parekian climbed the inner walls of the garden agilely and violently.
Each time Parekian's feet touched, the garden's inner walls shattered, scattering glass shards and dust in all directions.
"Is it really a lizard, sheesh...!"
Circling the cylindrical inner walls of the garden, Parekian leisurely moved as if searching for our weaknesses.
Well, good. If it gives us time, it's not bad. Actually, it's good.
I quickly looked to my side. Violet, who met my gaze, twitched her shoulder.
"It's time to show your skills, Violet."
"Damn it, how did we end up here, really...!"
"Why, well."
I gave her a smile.
"Because you're so capable!"
"Ah!"
Shivering, Violet still moved adeptly as trained.
A violet magic power rippled from her body, and as she touched the ground, it spread widely around the area.
Whoosh!
[Illusion Domain].
The zone of illusion that Violet spread quickly filled the interior of the police station, causing Parekian to flinch and hesitate.
Parekian has no eyes. Nor ears, nor nose.
In other words, it lacks the typical means of perceiving its surroundings, such as vision, hearing, or smell.
The only way it discerns the battlefield is through pure Magic Sensing. It scatters its immense magic power and understands the world through the echoes it produces.
It's similar to how bats emit ultrasonic waves to navigate their environment despite their poor eyesight.
Meaning, its Magic Sensing is abnormally developed,
...and thus, it can be easily disrupted.
Violet's Illusion Domain had properly taken effect. I turned to the side.
"Junior!"
"I'm ready!"
Upon my call, Junior, who was on standby, immediately lifted her staff and cast a spell.
Zzzing!
A dazzling halo appeared in the air, warping the space around it.
[Elemental Disassembly].
The ultimate spell for boss battles, reducing the opponent's magic power. It hit Parekian squarely.
However.
"Ugh?! What is this insane magic power...!"
Junior grimaced and staggered backward.
"Its magic power is tremendous. And it's increasing in real-time... My [Elemental Disassembly] can't reduce it in one go!"
[Elemental Disassembly] is a spell meant to reduce the opponent's magic power to the negatives.
But dragon species have innately high magic power, and currently, Parekian was resisting [Elemental Disassembly] by increasing its magic output in real-time.
A response befitting a being that has handled magic since the dawn of time.
"It's a dragon, after all, we were prepared for this! Keep firing!"
"Yes...!"
Junior prepared for another round of [Elemental Disassembly]. And then.
Whirrr!
Parekian wasn't the kind to just sit back and watch.
Making strange engine noises, Parekian readied itself to charge at us.
Naturally, its target was Junior, the mage who had inflicted an unknown debuff on it.
But-
Twitch.
Parekian couldn't easily attack.
It was because of the [Illusion Domain] that Violet had spread earlier. I had given Violet one instruction.
'Make everyone here appear as Junior through your illusion.'
And Violet pulled it off splendidly.
Currently, inside this police station, all my heroes were perceived as Junior in terms of magic sensing.
If Junior used magic, it would appear as if everyone here did, and if Junior somehow got a nosebleed, it would seem as if everyone here did.
Violet says it's not a significant illusion. She simply copied Junior's magic pattern and overlaid it onto everyone else.
But for my purpose - to hide Junior and allow her to continue using magic, it was enough.
Relying solely on Magic Sensing to perceive the world is undoubtedly a weakness for Parekian. Then, exploiting that weakness is the natural strategy!
"Now, then..."
I shouted.
"Let's put on a show in front of the dragon!"
Zap!
No sooner had I spoken than heroes scattered in all directions.
Parekian couldn't tell them apart.
Among the scattering humans, who was the caster of the spell?
Zoom!
Eventually, Parekian gave up distinguishing and glided down, attacking the nearest hero.
Thwack!
The ground was savagely torn apart by the brutal lashes of its claws and tail.
And the closest hero - Evangeline, was flung away with her shield, screaming.
"I, I almost died...!"
Even though she dodged what she could and only took unavoidable hits, Evangeline's shield and armor were tattered.
But she held on.
'That's why I primarily organized close-range characters.'
The core of this operation was to buy time while Junior nibbled away at its magic power.
So, I had arranged for close-range heroes who could easily dodge the monster's powerful close-range patterns and withstand a few hits if necessary...!
Whirr!
Parekian, realizing the target wasn't a mage, swiftly turned to look at the other heroes. Then,
"I am the real Jujuuuu!"
"No! I'm Junior-!"
"Spinach! Tomato! Anyway, vegetables!"
"Juju! Juju! Juju!"
Heroes, without exception, mimicked Junior (?) and scattered in all directions.
"...Ugh."
The real Junior's face turned red with embarrassment. If you're sick of this spectacle, hurry up and use the next [Elemental Disassembly]!
Bang! Crack! Squish!
Loudly drawing attention, and even seriously cosplaying as mages, the heroes fell like leaves in the wind.
Falling, crashing, and getting smashed, yet the heroes succeeded in drawing attention.
"I'm ready-!"
Junior shouted, lifting her staff.
After the first [Elemental Disassembly], Junior figured out approximately how many more it would take to finish off Parekian's magic power and was preparing the necessary amount of [Elemental Disassembly] with the 'Multi-Casting' feature.
Ding!
Ding!
Zzzing!
[Elemental Disassembly], stacked simultaneously, continuously erupted.
It successfully reduced Parekian's terribly high magic power to nothing, a feat as grotesque as it was impressive.
"Damien! Chain! Bodybag! Dearmudin!"
I commanded the firepower team on standby.
"Fire suppression, begin-!"
Snipers and mages poured their firepower onto it as if they had been waiting for the signal.
Parekian, thrown into disarray by the overlapping [Elemental Disassembly], staggered and then got hammered by all the firepower thrown at it.
But, this wasn't enough to kill it.
Not only was the damage insufficient, but it was also a dragon species. The magic power it had lost was being replenished in real-time.
The goal was- to pin it down in one place.
As the barrage of firepower ended and Parekian staggered, someone quickly dashed forward towards it.
Dusk Bringar, and... Lucas holding Violet in his arms.
"Take this- Eat this!"
Dusk Bringar, leaping into the air, grabbed Parekian's head and smashed it delightfully into the ground.
Boom-!
It was as refreshing as if he was performing a wrestling move.
Beside Parekian's head, which had been slammed into the ground, Lucas, who had used [Step of Persistence], arrived like a gust of wind.
Lucas gently set down Violet he was holding, and I called out her trembling name.
"Finish it, Violet-!"
Violet clenched her eyes shut,
"Alright..."
And raised both hands above the giant dragon's head.
"This is all because I'm too good!"
Flash-!
Violet's ultimate skill, the single-target Illusion Domain- [Daydream], exploded.
Parekian's entire body shuddered as if struck by lightning.
***
Parekian is a dragon that lacks senses.
What I had Violet show to such a Parekian was... the reality as it is.
To the dragon that cannot see, that cannot hear, that cannot smell. To show it the scenery of this place exactly as it is.
Before the vivid sensations it was confronting for the first time in its life, Parekian trembled.
The world it had always understood through the echoes of magic now gained color, sound, smell, unfolding around it.
I slowly approached such a creature.
Thanks to Violet's magic acting directly on its brain, it was clearly seeing me.
'Success.'
I sighed in relief.
Boss monsters usually have 'phases.'
When their health is reduced or a certain amount of time has passed in battle... they enter the next phase, changing patterns, becoming stronger, and more ferocious.
In Parekian's case, reducing its health would trigger the next phase, revealing its 'true form' and even becoming frenzied.
From our perspective, not yet equipped with Dragon Slayer weapons, our first dragon hunt had to brace for significant damage.
Honestly, I wasn't confident we could capture it without injury. It was an opponent we couldn't guarantee victory against if fought head-on.
So, I prepared a trick.
Intentionally not inflicting damage and staying in the first phase, drawing out only simple patterns to buy time...
Bit by bit, nibbling away at its magic power.
And forcibly feeding it illusions.
"Parekian, you are to..."
Employing a tactic of mind control!
"Become mine!"